eBay

I love eBay. It seems that no matter what I sell, the saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" always comes to mind. I've had a lot of luck with my auctions - with over 95% being successful sales the first time I list them. I've sold my stuff, my friend's stuff, my co-worker's stuff... always with success and happy clients.

So - - I got volunteered to sell some stuff for someone I didn't know but had heard stories about. I was approached with, "Hey. Call this person. Here is a list of the things they want to get rid of. Try to take care of it this weekend." This came from my boss who knew about my success and thought I could help her friend. Well the stories I had heard about these people made me a little nervous... but the way I sell things is:
1) List the item with pictures
2) Wait for the auction to end
3) Ship out the item once money is in my bank account
4) Write a check less my fees and costs to the person I sold stuff for

This has never been a problem before. Everyone gets paid and is happy. BUT (you knew that was coming, right?) But this time that wasn't the case. I sold the stuff for the friend of my boss, the item was already packaged when I picked it up, so I shipped it and did the procedure as usual and everyone was happy... until my buyer got the item in horrible condition. The buyer sent pictures to me, and I was shocked. I came to find out that the "factory refurbished" item actually had only one little part placed (once I hounded the boss' friend). The item came back FILTHY. It was covered in dust & with a sticky residue I could only assume was tobacco - covering every internal and external part of the machine. The boss' friend told me there was no money in her bank account so she could write me a check but it would be no good.

My husband and I decided to clean the machine and hopefully resell it on eBay. We put a lot of time into wiping down the parts and exterior, and got estimates to clean the interior. Well, my boss' boss asked me how my auctions were going for the friends... and I explained that everything was great until someone wasn't happy, an item got shipped back, and a large chunk of money was taken from my bank account by PayPal. Understandably, I was near tears because the money that was taken was our savings for vacation.

My boss' boss tracked my boss down, told her what I said, she shouted at me for telling her boss, then changed her mind and said I can say whatever I want to whoever I want, then called her friend who said she didn't think the serial numbers would match, then told me to get a check from her friend over the weekend, then called my husband and told him if I didn't get a check she would write one to me herself, then asked me about it on Monday, only to find out her friend blew me off on Saturday, but then called her friend again who swore there would be a check at the end of the day today. WHEW.

I left work, dropped the item off at the friend's place, and got a check. I cashed it immediately.

At least we have our money back for vacation. I think I'm quitting eBay.